Discuss the arguments in support of decriminalization.

What will be an ideal response?


1) Such activities should not be the concern of the state and formal agents of social control but are more appropriately handled by informal modes of control such as the family, community, and church.
2) State interference with much of this behavior often makes matters worse. The criminalization of drug users and view of them as criminals rather than people with medical problems has cut off the legal supply of drugs, created illegal monopolies, and forced many into criminal activity in order to support their habits.
3) Such laws tend to accomplish little with those already favorably disposed to such activity. Homosexuality, prostitution, gambling, and the like have been and will continue to be persistent activities in modern society.
4) Law enforcement officers’ focus on such public order crimes overburdens the criminal justice system with inappropriate tasks, preventing the deployment of resources in combating more serious crimes.

Criminal Justice

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